annals

American  

[an-lz] / ˈæn lz /

noun

(used with a plural verb)

1. a record of events, especially a yearly record, usually in chronological order.

   Synonyms:

   history, chronicles

2. historical records generally.

   the annals of war.

   Synonyms:

   history, chronicles

3. a periodical publication containing the formal reports of an organization or learned field.

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annals British  

/ ˈænəlz /

plural noun

1. yearly records of events, generally in chronological order

2. history or records of history in general

3. regular reports of the work of a society, learned body, etc

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Other Word Forms

• annalist noun
• annalistic adjective

Etymology

Origin of annals

1555–65; (< Middle French ) < Latin annālēs ( librī ) literally, yearly (books), plural of annālis continuing for a year, annual, equivalent to ann ( us ) a year + ālis -al ¹

Example Sentences

“Houston, we have a problem” may be the most famous line in the annals of spaceflight.

From Slate • Mar. 13, 2026

Cooling their heels in a Venetian jail in 1755, Giacomo Casanova and the prisoner in the cell above him contrived one of the more imaginative escapes in the annals of criminology.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 13, 2026

Franjo von Allmen may have written his name into the annals of Olympic alpine skiing, but the grounded Swiss racer said ski history was wasted on him.

From Barron's • Feb. 11, 2026

Where does this achievement stand in the annals?

From BBC • Dec. 8, 2025

The annals of medicine are full of accounts of diseases that sound like no disease known today, but that once caused terrifying epidemics and then disappeared as mysteriously as they had come.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond